Facebook killers sentenced to more than 20 years in prison

Ljubljana, 5 December - Aleš Olovec, 20, and Martin Kovač, 29, were sentenced to 21 years and 11 months, and 20 years and 11 months in prison, respectively, for a murder that they streamed live on Facebook, in what was an unprecedented move in Slovenia.

LjubljanaFacebook login page.Photo: Tamino Petelinšek/STA

The pair's brutal beating of their 26-year-old acquaintance in February was seen by several thousand Facebook users before it was taken down at the request of police. The video, which is more than 20 minutes long, showed the attackers taunt and insult their helpless victim, who died in hospital the next day.

The prosecution wanted the court to hand down 25 years for the murder and one year for the streaming on each of the defendants, who had pleaded not guilty.